U.S. FTC Proposes to Eliminate Obsolete Provisions in Textile Rules

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is seeking public comment on a proposal to eliminate the “housemark” provisions of its Textile Rules. Written comments are due by July 31, 2017.

The Commission proposes amending the Textile Rules (“Rules and Regulations under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act”) to eliminate unnecessary regulations and processes in order to reduce compliance costs while increasing firms’ flexibility. The Textile Labeling Rules require marketers to attach a label to a textile product disclosing the manufacturer or marketer name, the country where the product was processed or manufactured, and the generic names and percentages by weight of the fibers in the product.

The housemark provisions under the Textile Rule allow marketers to disclose a trademark used as a “housemark” (a distinctive mark for a firm to identify all its products) on a textile label in lieu of their business name only if they first register their housemark with the Commission. However, the requirement of registration is no longer necessary as trademark owners can easily be identified by searching online or via the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website. Therefore, the FTC believes that eliminating this provision may reduce compliance costs for textile marketers and give companies the flexibility to use any registered word mark.

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